Israeli diplomat strike ends, giving Pope’s visit the all clear

Israel’s government and unions have reached an agreement which has led to the re-opening of its embassies and consulates worldwide

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Pubblicato il
03/04/2014

Ultima modifica il 03/04/2014 alle ore 14:44

The Israeli Foreign Ministry strike is over. After a year of financial disputes and union battles and strikes that culminated in the complete suspension of all diplomatic activities in the past eleven days, Israel’s government and unions have reached an agreement, leading to the reopening, as of today, of all Israeli embassies and consulates across the world.

“The foreign fighters of Israel will return to the global front line,” union representatives said. The white smoke came after an agreement was signed between the Foreign Ministry staff, union representatives and Finance Ministry officials.

The agreement is a compromise between the demands put forward by about 1200 employees and the offers made by the Finance Ministry. Pension plans for diplomats and their spouses were strengthened and diplomats working abroad have been guaranteed improved service conditions and financial assistance for going abroad, especially to hardship countries. Also, the period of time required before junior officials can be assigned abroad has been shortened.

At the same time, Israel’s diplomats commit themselves to ensuring enduring “industrial peace” and they accept that the decision as to where they are deployed is not just up to them but also the Foreign Ministry. This unprecedented Israeli union strike has caused serious harm to the country’s foreign policy, forcing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel a rare trip to Latin America. There had also been fears that the strike would affect Pope Francis’ end of May visit to the Holy Land but the Vatican had assured it would be going ahead as scheduled.